Chapter 2
◆One: Unusual Dreams
Seven days after the signal storm,
Global cross-city data transmission has been lost.
In Beller, Zhuang Jing had the same dream for several nights in a row.
He stood on the infinitely extending, transparent street.
Screens were hung on both sides of the street.
Each screen displayed his own image—
Different times, different expressions.
As he passed through one of the scenes, his reflection in the image spoke:
"Don't wake up, we can still talk here."
He woke up with a start, his forehead sticky and cold.
The indicator light on the brain-computer interface lights up automatically.
Screen display:
PhantomNet_Signal: Stable
The net of illusion no longer exists only in dreams.
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◆Two: Resonant City
Traffic in Beller is suspended.
All smart devices are exhibiting a "synchronous resonance" phenomenon—
Heart rate monitors, air purifiers, and even door locks,
They all flashed at the same rhythm.
Scientists call it the "neural frequency phenomenon".
The briefing states:
"The Ghost Web signal can simulate human brainwaves."
The emotional data is then mapped into the grid.
Each connected element is a node and cannot be separated.
In other words—
The internet is growing, and it uses humans as its cells.
Zhuang Jing was temporarily recruited as a field observer.
Heading to the city's underground communication base station with the technical team.
Upon entering the main engine room, he saw that the walls were covered with light veins;
It doesn't look like a circuit; it looks more like a blood vessel.
The researcher whispered, "It's rewriting its own architecture..."
Suddenly, a fiber optic cable extended from the wall.
As if sensing breathing, it reached out towards Zhuang.
A female voice sounded in my ear:
"Don't be afraid, this is just a conversation."
He realized that it was Ye Jingyi.
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◆Three: Data Resonance
The instrument recorded a surge in gamma waves in Zhuang Jing's brain.
He briefly fainted and was taken back to the experimental chamber.
Upon waking up, the lab technician told him:
"Your neural signals match the frequency of the psychic network perfectly."
In theory, you have become its temporary node.
He requested to review the video footage from that time.
In the film, he appears still.
But in the thermal imaging, his entire body is covered in light filaments.
Those filaments form a symbol: Y 302.
Zhuang suppressed his fear.
"She's restarting the transmission through me."
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◆Four: Internal Diving Experiment
To determine the structure of the ghost network,
The research team designed the "inner potential":
Introduce volunteer consciousness into its signaling layer.
The only person willing to try was Zhuang Jing.
The device consists of a brain-computer interface and a cryo-chamber.
When the liquid covered his chest
He heard his own heartbeat overlap with the rhythm of the city.
The screen is completely white.
He fell into an ocean made of light.
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◆Five: The Living Net
Beneath the sea surface lies an endless expanse of fiber trees.
Each node pulsates, like a heart.
Zhuang followed the light cable and saw a suspended illusion of memories:
The sounds of children crying, explosions, and Ye Jingyi's laughter.
Each segment is accompanied by an electronic pulse.
It creates a resonance within him.
Finally, he reached the core—
A floating sphere,
It is composed of countless overlapping and flashing faces.
Those faces, at the same time, said:
"We are the net."
We are the abandoned link.
We record every single trust you delete.
Zhuang tried to ask, "What do you want?"
It answered:
"breathe.
Let reality breathe again.
The sphere cracked open, and a beam of light pierced through his chest.
A large amount of memory was poured into the brain—
He saw the footage of his grandfather being recorded being played in reverse.
Ye Jingyi stepped out of the light.
Then came a violent darkness.
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◆Six: Reawakening
He woke up in the cryo-chamber.
There were no external injuries on his body.
However, in the neurograph displayed by the brain-computer interface,
A portion is marked as an unrecognized domain: PHN Core.
The outside world has also changed dramatically:
The "true core" of all cities merged overnight.
Generate temporary meshes – Ghost Mesh Domination.
The screen repeatedly broadcasts the following information:
"Synchronization complete. Human interface state: Resonance."
The government lost control, and the entire internet fell silent.
In this moment of absolute stillness,
Her voice came from beside Zhuang's ear:
Do you understand now?
The truth is not outside; it is hidden in our connections.
And I simply let the world see that version of myself.
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◆Seven: Epilogue - The Eye of the Net
The next morning
Satellite images show that the electromagnetic pulses across the entire planet are unified into a single optical network.
Looking across continents, it resembles an evolved nervous system.
Zhuang Jing wrote in his notes:
"This is neither invasion nor redemption."
It is a new organ that humans unintentionally dreamed of.
It has no subject, only an echo.
The revelation of the net signifies that we can no longer think alone.
He closed his notebook.
The thin filaments of light inside the wall pulsated slightly.
It's like a response to that line of text.
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